Day two of Automotive Megatrends India 2015 started with a panel discussion among executives from BMW, Nissan and Volvo Cars. Touching on numerous megatrends, the conversation included significant focus on the topics of air pollution, electrification and its viability in the Indian passenger vehicle market.
“How do we maintain our vehicles so they don’t pollute?” asked Arun Malhotra, Managing Director, Nissan Motor India. “Delhi is the pollution capital of the world, and its hurting the country’s image in a bad way. We are expecting something to be done about this soon,” he said.
Electrification could play a key role in positively impacting India’s air quality. However, Tom von Bonsdorff, Managing Director, Volvo Cars India, believes that improvements in internal combustion engines (ICEs), and particularly diesels, will have the most dramatic short-term impact on air quality.
“There’s so much that can be done before transferring to electric vehicles or hybrids,” he said. “With cabin filters, for example, you can have a fantastic result on the air inside the car, making it 60 times cleaner that the air outside. So we don’t have to talk about electrification, we can talk about diesels. The filters, both inside the vehicle and those used to control tailpipe emissions, can reduce particulates by 99%.”
The diesel powertrain, he continued, will remain dominant in India’s passenger vehicles for some time, making the continued development of them vital for the market. Philipp von Sahr, President, BMW Group India, agrees: “I think we need to continue with diesels in India, making them cleaner and more efficient. After that, we may see hybrids and electric vehicles coming in.”
However, he also believes OEMs should be ready for change. “I cannot predict how the market will go in the future when it comes to powertrains,” he admitted, adding: “I know that we must be prepared for the adoption of electric vehicles, plug-in electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, compressed natural gas vehicles, and so on. India’s powertrain preference could change from diesels to one or several of these architectures, whether it’s tomorrow or in 20 years time.”
In short, Sahr believes that electrification of India’s passenger vehicle market is not yet possible, as factors like high cost, a lack of government incentives and charging infrastructure must be addressed. However, with a growing public awareness of air pollution and its impact on health, passenger vehicles will benefit from “a variety of diesel technologies, before electrification comes into focus.”
The first day of the conference, which was centred on the truck segment, also included a clear focus on the possibility of electrifying India’s transport industry. Similar to the outlook for the passenger vehicle market, numerous experts suggested that electrification could play a significant role in the long-term improvement of country’s commercial vehicle (CV) segment as India looks to address air pollution problems.
Michael Nash
